Measured Steps: Halloween
by Firetop
Summary: Jocelyn's first Halloween.


** Title: Measured Steps: Halloween Author: Fire Top Rating: K Disclaimer: I don't own. If you want to sue, then get in line behind the bill collectors. They were on line first, it's only fair. But remember basic math...and percentage of 0 is still 0. A/N:** More Jocelyn stories, just as you wanted. I'll try to get these out as soon as they come into my mind. I hope they meet with your approval. Please let me know what you think.

* * *

Chase couldn't believe that this was the fifth costume store that he called today. Still they didn't have the costume he was looking for. This was going to be Jocelyn's first Halloween, and Chase wanted it to be perfect.

They didn't celebrate last year with a costume, because both Chase and Dr. Tom were worried that Jocelyn wasn't ready for the holiday emotionally.

But this year was different. Between her friends at school, Hannah and Molly, and House, she was all ready to get dressed up and go get candy.

But this whole costume business was turning into more trouble that it was worth. He made the mistake of asking Jocelyn what she wanted to be for Halloween. He had hoped that she would go for something like a princess or a wizard, something that he could easily find a costume for her.

He wasn't that lucky.

Now he was stuck calling different places to see if they had a costume for her.

His was at least easy. This year the diagnostic department, make that House, decided that they should all dress up. His other brilliant idea was that Jocelyn got to choose the costumes. The only stipulation was that they couldn't argue with her, when she told them what they had to dress as. And that it was a secrete.

When House told this to the group, Jocelyn's eyes got wide. She was so excited. She was the only one. The looks on the faces of the other doctors, including House, as she handed them pieces of paper made all of it worth it to Chase.

Jocelyn must really love him. His costume, Harry Potter, was easy for him and was already at home. He could only guess what she chose for the rest of his co-workers. He asked her once, but she adamitly refused to tell him. Jocelyn's actual answer was that she could be grounded till she was 30 and she still wouldn't tell.

The idea of grounding had come from Claire, after she was caught kissing a boy. Something that Jocelyn found icky and not worth getting into trouble over. At least that's what she told Chase.

"Are you sure this is what you want to be?" Chase asked Jocelyn as he hung up the phone.

"I promised Hannah and Molly. We can't go to the party unless we all go as we promised. They both have their costumes." She answered from the table were she was working on her homework.

"When did they get their costumes?"

"Hannah said her mommy got it near work."

"I'm going to head next door and ask Ms. Kessler where she got the costumes."

"Okay." Jocelyn went back to her book. There were still 10 math problems she had to do before she could go practice the violin. She had already practiced the piano when she was waiting for her daddy to finish at work.

* * *

"Rob, what's doing?" Amy Kessler opened her front door. She knew better than to invite him in. She was able to see his door was open. It meant it was just for a quick question so that he could get back to his daughter.

"Where did you get Hannah and Molly their costumes?"

"There's a small costume shop near the office."

"Do you have the number?"

"Still no luck?"

"Five today and three yesterday. Only Jocelyn would pick something like that." Chase said. It wasn't in an upset tone, more one of frustration.

"I don't have the number, but I'll go by tomorrow on my break. If they have one I'll pick it up. You can pay me back."

"Deal."

"You going to be around Halloween?"

"There is a party at work that I have to bring Jocelyn too first. But that's during the day. And I already told them I couldn't work that night. So I can take all the girls."

"Great. I felt so bad last year when I got stuck in traffic and they couldn't go trick or treating."

"I'll bring home a pizza for all of us, so there'll be some food before all the candy."

"Thanks again, Rob."

"If you can get that costume you'll be my hero." Chase smiled as Amy closed the door and he headed back to his apartment.

* * *

Chase had just taken Jocelyn off the bus when his beeper went off. Both father and daughter looked at each other. "Go daddy. I can make my way to Uncle Greg's on my own."

"You sure?" He looked at his daughter. Sure, she was a mature six year old, but she was still six and the hospital was a big place.

"I promise." She said in all seriousness.

"Go to the conference room and start your homework. It's Dr. House who's paging me, so you'll practice when he is done." And Chase took off running.

Jocelyn took a deep breath, readjusted the book bag on her shoulders and started towards the elevators. Sometimes she couldn't help but worry if her daddy would come back for her. She knew he would, but sometimes, when he had to run, it scared her a little. Dr. Tom told her it was normal. And Jocelyn knew that her daddy had to save people, and would never forget her. But sometimes, bad thoughts were hard to stop.

She had been daydreaming too much in the elevator that she had forgotten to push the button for the fourth floor. Realizing that the elevator was now approaching the 5th floor, she quickly pushed that button. She could always walk down a flight of stairs.

As she headed towards the stairs a familiar sounds stopped her. Jocelyn knew that she wasn't supposed to go into any of the rooms. That there were people who were sick here, and that she could get sick too. But the crying coming from the room she was standing outside of sounded really sad.

Jocelyn paused and looked in. There was no one there. The nurses walked past the room, not even stopping to see what was wrong, and why someone, a girl was crying. Whenever she cried someone always asked why and wanted to help her.

Being no one else was taking an interest in the crying girl, Jocelyn took it upon herself to see if she could help. Besides, no one would know. Uncle Greg was busy with her daddy. She could see what was wrong, help, and leave before anyone missed her.

Jocelyn knocked on the door before walking into the room. "Hello?" She asked as she walked closer to the bed.

The person on the bed, a girl, about the same size as Hannah was lying on her side looking at the wall. She continued to cry, not giving any notice to the little girl in her room.

"Is there something that I can help you with?" Jocelyn asked as she walked around the bed so that she could see the person lying on it.

"Go away. No one can help me." She yelled out.

"You don't know that. My name is Jocelyn. Please can I try to help? If I can't maybe I can get one of the doctors to."

"They won't help. They already said no."

"No to what?"

"I want to go trick or treating. I miss it every year. It's not fair. I wanted to go this year. I even had a costume picked out."

"What costume?" Jocelyn asked as she took a seat in the chair near the bed.

The girl still had tears in her eyes but had stopped crying. "You wouldn't know."

"Try me."

"I wanted to be a pixie."

"An elf with wings?" Jocelyn smiled. "You would be a great pixie."

"No I wouldn't. I can't go. I'm not allowed. I've never been trick or treating. I'm always sick."

"I've never been trick or treating. This will be my first year. I never knew what it was."

"Where you sick too? Are you better?"

"No. I wasn't sick. What are you sick with?"

"Cancer. It's in my bones. My mom is afraid I won't be strong enough to fight off disease if I'm outside."

"That doesn't mean you can't still celebrate Halloween. Doesn't the hospital have a party for the children?"

"I don't have a costume. And my parents don't like me around a lot of kids."

"Oh."

"You probably shouldn't be here. My mom should be back soon. And I don't want you to get in trouble."

"If I get permission can I come back to visit."

"I don't think you can, but it would be nice to have someone to talk to you that isn't an adult. You're name is Jocelyn?"

"My friends call me Joss."

"I'm Alexandra. My friends call me Lexi."

"I'll see you tomorrow." Jocelyn said as she left the room. Already there was a plan forming in her mind.

* * *

House and Chase didn't make it back to diagnostics for another hour. When they both got there they saw a note telling them that she was visiting Uncle Jimmy. Chase was a little upset that Jocelyn had left the room without permission. House tried to reason that she might have needed some help in math. A subject that finally proved some challenge for her.

Wilson brought Jocelyn back to the diagnostic lounge around six, about the time that Chase was about to go searching for her. As the two of them were about to leave House stopped everyone.

"We'll change into our costumes once Jocelyn gets here tomorrow. Remember no sharing." And House turned around to head back to his office.

* * *

Once again Chase met his daughter as she got off the school bus. She was carrying two bags besides her knapsack. One more than he planned on for her to have, "What's in the bag?" He asked as they headed to the elevator.

"It's a present for Lexi."

"Who's Lexi?" It was a name that he never heard his daughter mention.

"She's my friend. I met her yesterday. Uncle Jimmy said I can visit her today. I made her a costume because she said her mommy said she couldn't go trick or treating tonight."

"When did you meet her?" Chase wondered. There was only a short period of time that Jocelyn was not with another adult. Did Dr. Wilson introduce her to someone while he was helping her with her math? Unless she wasn't entirely truthful about yesterday.

"Well I didn't exactly go directly to your office when you left." Jocelyn started.

Instead of heading to the elevator, Chase steered her to some chairs so the two of them could talk. He knew she was going to tell him that she did something she wasn't supposed to do.

"I meant to." She quickly added once she sat down. "But I started to daydream in the elevator and I forgot to press the button for the fourth floor. So I got off at the 5th floor instead. As I was walking to the stairs to go back down I heard crying. So I went to see who was crying."

"What did I tell you about going into peoples rooms?" Chase asked. He didn't yell, just questioned her.

"I know I'm not supposed to. But she looked like Hannah, and no one was going to see why she was crying. So I asked her. She didn't have a costume and couldn't go trick or treating. She said her mommy wouldn't let her play with other kids because she was sick. I asked her if I got permission if I could go visit her again. I got permission and I made her a costume so she would be ready for Halloween."

"Who did you ask for permission? What is she sick with? Why didn't you tell me about this last night?"

"I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you would say no. She has bone cancer. And I asked Uncle Jimmy, because he's a cancer doctor."

"It was a smart thing to ask Dr. Wilson." Chase said slowly. He didn't know if he should be proud of his daughter for trying to do something nice or upset that she broke one of the rules that he had set for her. "And it was nice that you want to help someone. But there are rules put in place for a certain reason. Lexi could have something that could have made you sick. And I don't want you sick. You also could be carrying something to make Lexi sick."

"Oh." Jocelyn said as she thought about what her daddy said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone."

"I know. I wish you would have spoken to me about this last night. Is that what you were doing last night in your room?"

"Yes. I finished it at school today."

"We'll talk about you breaking the rules tomorrow."

"I know. I think no TV all weekend."

"Like I said, we'll talk about it tomorrow. How about we go visit Lexi so you can give her the present."

"Okay."

Chase held his arms out for his daughter to hug him. He was always afraid that she would think that he hated her if he punished her too much. But he also knew that he couldn't let rule-breaking go unnoticed. The fact that Jocelyn was able to come up with a suitable punishment made him happy. No television for the weekend wasn't too outlandish, being she didn't watch much TV to begin with.

Father and daughter headed up to Lexi's room. Outside they were greated by a woman. "Hi. I'm Jocelyn. I met Lexi yesterday. I spoke to Dr. Wilson and he said it was okay if I came to visit again today. I brought a costume for Lexi. She was upset yesterday that she didn't have a costume." Jocelyn immediately stepped forward.

The woman stood in shock for a moment.

Chase took this opportunity to step in. "I'm Dr. Chase. Joss's father. It seems are daughters met yesterday."

"I know. Lexi told me all about it yesterday. And Dr. Wilson came by to talk to me earlier today."

"I'm sorry if she over stepped some boundary. She didn't mean any harm; she just heard someone crying and just wanted to help. I understand that you are trying to keep your daughter safe."

The woman smiled at that. "Thank you Dr. Chase. Jocelyn actually cheered Lexi up yesterday. And she is looking forward to seeing her again."

"I brought her a costume." Jocelyn held a plastic bag out to the woman.

"That was very sweet of you. But Lexi is sleeping now. And I really don't want to wake her."

"Oh. That's okay. I'll came back later in my costume. Can she have candy? I'll bring her some later."

"Some candy, yes she can. That's very nice of you Jocelyn."

"Your welcome. Come on daddy. I want to see Uncle Greg in his costume."

Chase smiled at the mother and followed her daughter to the conference room.

* * *

Cuddy couldn't help but laugh when she walked into the diagnostic department. "Whose idea was this?" She asked as she stepped in.

"Well Jocelyn, chose the costumes but it was House's idea for her to do so." Foreman answered. He was not happy. There were very few in that room that were happy. Jocelyn and Cameron both had smiles on their faces. Cameron was wearing a blue dress and had her hair in braids. Foreman was wearing something around his face that had ears. Chase was wearing a pair of glasses a wizard's hat and a red and yellow scarf. But the best had to be both Wilson and House.

"So what's everyone dressed as?" Cuddy asked.

Jocelyn jumped off the chair. "Aunt Allison is a Dorothy, Uncle Eric is the Cowardly Lion, Uncle Jimmy is the Scarecrow, Uncle Greg is the Tin Man and daddy is Harry Potter. I'm Roo, from Winnie the Pooh. Hannah is going to be Tigger and Molly is going as Winnie the Pooh."

"Don't you all look very cute." She grinned. "Are you all ready to go visit the party in pediatrics?" She asked.

"Do we have a choice?" House asked.

"Not really being you all agreed already." She shrugged and headed out the door.

Jocelyn jumped up and ran towards House and grabbed his hand. "Come on. Lexi might be there. I want to see her in her costume."

* * *

Jocelyn was not disappointed. Lexi's mother allowed her to attend the Halloween party in pediatrics, and she came wearing the costume that Jocelyn had made.

"Dr. Chase?" Lexi's mother approached the group of doctors standing on the side. "I'm Mrs. Blaire, Lexi's mother."

"Mrs. Blair, I'm glad to see Lexi here." Wilson jumped in.

"I wanted to thank you again. Your daughter has made Lexi so happy." She pointed to where two little girls were sitting and talking. It was nice of you to help her with the costume."

"Ma'am, I didn't even know until this morning."

"What's going on?" House asked, curious as to what was going on.

"See Jocelyn and that girl over there? Joss made a costume for her, so she has something to wear for Halloween." Chase explained.

House looked over. A kid not much older than Joss was wearing a skirt made out of green and yellow construction paper. From where he was, it looked like it was all held together by masking tape. On her back was a pair of wings cut out of oak tag that were decorated with yellow and green glitter, paper, and markers. "What is that being held on?"

"Yarn. She also made points to be worn on top of her hears and colored them peach." Mrs. Blair continued.

"She's a very special child." House answered. Of course it took a special kind of person to have him dress as a tin man from the Wizard of Oz.

* * *

Chase walked into the office with a girl sleeping in his arms. "She okay?" House asked. Sure it was a Saturday, but it was 10, Chase and Joss should have both been up.

"Too much candy last night." Chase explained laying Jocelyn down on the couch.

"The curse of Halloween." House smiled as Chase sat down at the table to start diagnosing the latest emergency patient for the diagnostic department.

"By the way, these are for you." Chase handed a pile of pictures over to House before he left the room to run tests with the rest of his co-workers.

Leaning back in his chair, House carefully looked through the pictures as he waited for the test results and watched the sleeping child.


End file.
